YAKIMA — A Hanford watchdog group has released independent test results that found Americium-241 in two air filters from cars that had been declared clean of such radioactive contamination.
The findings raise questions about the accuracy of earlier test results by an Energy Department contractor charged with monitoring Hanford-site vehicles for contamination.
“Even if the radioactive dust particles we’ve found are microscopic, they could still affect people’s health,” said Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which contracted with Boston Chemical Data for the new tests.
The radioactive contamination has spread from a troubled cleanup project at Hanford’s plutonium finishing plant. Contamination has been detected by state air monitors as far as 10 miles from the site of the demolition work, which is considered to be one of the most high-risk portions of the ongoing cleanup of the Hanford site, where plutonium was produced for atomic bombs.
Since December, all demolition at the finishing plant has been put on hold. Meanwhile, workers have applied fixatives to try to keep more radioactive materials from getting whipped up by the wind.
Meanwhile, Energy Department officials have posted frequent online briefings about efforts to contain and track the spread of the radioactive contamination.
An Energy Department post Tuesday stated that site officials had not had a chance to conduct their own analysis from the air-filter samples tested by Boston Chemical. It stated that Hanford’s survey processes were well established and included examining both the interior and exterior of the vehicles. It also noted that on Tuesday another round of tests of the air filters of 44 vehicles began.
The spread of the contamination has raised safety concerns among workers.
Last month, Carpenter said four people who have worked at the demolition project decided to turn over a total of five filters for independent testing. All of them previously had their cars tested by the Energy Department contractor, which returned the cars after they were cleared as clean.
The new testing by Boston Chemical found contamination on filters drawn from two of these workers’ cars.
